Top Cop Healing After Grim Event

March 16, 2011

By Jeff Ponder

When Police Officer Joseph Haman woke up on May 27, 2010, he didn’t know that the events of that day would change the rest of his life.

Haman, an Iraq War Veteran and a member of the St. Louis police force, was shot eight times when making a routine traffic stop at Natural Bridge Road and Grand Avenue at 8:07 am. After dropping his partner off at the police station to get some paperwork finished, Haman conducted what he thought would be a routine pull-over.

“I was talking to one of the passengers and he wasn’t giving me any information,” Haman said. “I asked him to step out of the car and he pulled a pistol out and shot me. He shot me twice in the chest at that point, and I returned fire and we got into a gun battle and he ended up shooting me eight times total.

“I was shot twice in the chest, once in the right leg under my knee, once in my left forearm, twice in the upper part of my back and once in the lower part of my back that hit my pelvis. That one took out my insides and I had to lose three feet of intestine. I was also shot in the side [of the back].”

Haman, who was luckily wearing a bulletproof vest at the time, said that he did not lose consciousness and was able to control the scene after the suspect had fled.

“I was able to give the description of the guy to the dispatcher when he was running away and where he went. Some civilians came to help me out and I stayed awake until the ambulance came and took me to the hospital.”

Haman added that he has had 11 surgeries since the incident. He said that the most important surgery came shortly after the incident, when the doctors at SLU Hospital “removed and repaired” the three feet of intestine that was damaged.

This is not the first time that Haman has been under fire. While in Iraq, an enemy grenade exploded near him and his squad that resulted in shrapnel damaging his right tricep.

Haman, who dearly misses playing pick-up hockey with his fellow policemen on Tuesday mornings, says that the way that he lives his life on a day-to-day basis has changed since that tragic day.

“I’m a lot more cautious now,” Haman said, “I don’t go anywhere without my pistol on me. I’m more aware of my surroundings and I don’t like going to crowded places.”

Before the shooting, Haman had only been a member of the St. Louis police force for about 18 months. Despite his inexperience, the 26-year old Haman was honored as one of the Fifth District’s Officers of the Year in 2009. His attitude and dedication to his work may be what won him that honor.

“I am excited to get back to work. As soon as I’m cleared I’ll be back out there.”

It seems it will take more than bullets to stop Officer Joseph Haman.